
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, February 18, 1995                   TAG: 9502200051
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: MINEOLA, N.Y.                                LENGTH: Medium

KILLER ON TRAIN IS GUILTY

Colin Ferguson was convicted Friday of murdering six passengers on a commuter train, ending a trial in which he refused an insanity plea and then offered a bizarre defense as his own lawyer.

The jury deliberated for 10 hours before returning its verdict in a courtroom packed with survivors of the attack and families of the slain victims. Even Ferguson anticipated the guilty verdict; only the length of the deliberations surprised him.

``Guilty,'' jury foreman Delton Dove said when asked about the first murder count. He repeated it five times, once for each of the other victims shot to death aboard the 5:33 p.m. train on Dec. 7, 1993. Nineteen others were wounded.

A smattering of applause greeted the first guilty verdict. Ferguson stood mute, staring at the jurors as the verdict was read. He faces life in prison.

The evidence against Ferguson appeared overwhelming. In addition to his handwritten notes expressing hatred of whites and Asians, all but two of the 19 surviving victims testified against him.

Twelve identified him as the gunman. And the commuters who said they subdued and disarmed Ferguson also took the witness stand.

Under cross-examination, the witnesses answered Ferguson's questions by directly implicating him. One victim, Robert Giugliano, so unnerved Ferguson with his hard stare that the defendant had to ask for a 15-minute recess.

The first person shot on the train, Maryanne Phillips, coolly told Ferguson: ``I saw you shoot me'' - a surreal scene that was repeated over and over in the Long Island courtroom.

The parade of victims included Kevin McCarthy, whose father died in his lap on the train; Lisa Combatti, who was seven months pregnant when shot; and war veteran Thomas McDermott, who said the carnage was worse than anything he'd seen in Vietnam.

All of them cited a sense of closure achieved by facing Ferguson in the courtroom.

Ferguson, a 37-year-old Jamaican immigrant, insisted he was innocent. Yes, Ferguson said, he was riding on the LIRR train. But he fell asleep, and a white man stole his automatic weapon and opened fire.

His defense case consisted of a single witness: a Nassau County homicide detective already called by the prosecution. And attorney Colin Ferguson never called his star witness: defendant Colin Ferguson.

by CNB